Page 1 Consider (06/19)

Keeping it REAL: So I FINALLY got around to watching the season finale of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." While I stand by my assertion that the season has been by and large rather boring, last night's explosive ending was a modern-day classic. If you haven't seen it yet, STOP READING NOW, because I can't say enough about Jacqueline Laurita -- and her hubby, the brother of the pointless bitches Dina "the liar" and Caroline "the control freak" Manzo -- for doing the right thing and calling her lying, conniving and controlling sisters-in-law out on their bullshit. (Hey, Dina: Jacqueline kept your secret for months -- but YOU tried to make her LIE in front of everyone.) Danielle Staub may have a shady past (of course her 27-year-old boyfriend is now trying to exploit her too), but she's a class act compared with the Manzo sisters, who were exposed for the phonies they really are. (And poor Teresa. Retards are so cute.) Best. Finale. Ever. (NYP)

Freedom to Marry: Voting for Project Pushback, the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's marriage-equality video contest has ended. Watch the leading contenders for the top prize HERE.

Norman Leared: For the life of me, I don't get gay people who are "concerned" with Sasha Baron Cohen's "Bruno." I'm guessing they're the same type of people who didn't get who the joke was on when Archie Bunker spewed his racial hatred nearly 40 years ago, which is to say stupid people I want nothing to do with. (The Wrap)

Crack Lovers Unite: Opponents of gay marriage filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court yesterday hoping to force a referendum on whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. (WP)

Hole in One: After her debut "solo" album bombed, you can't blame Courtney Love for resurrecting the Hole moniker for her next album, "Nobody's Daughter," even if it features NONE of her previous (and ever-changing) band members. (NME)

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's ... : I got one of those e-mail concert alerts the other day and read that Scottish jangle-popsters Trash Can Sinatras are coming to New York. (Who knew they'd reformed?) Just dusted off their three albums from the 1990s -- and got their 2004 comeback disc, "Weightlifting." I'd always taken them for a second-rate Aztec Camera or Orange Juice but suddenly -- a decade or two later -- realize they have a charm all their own (in more of a Prefab Sprout kind of way). You might remember "Obscurity Knocks," the video of which you can watch HERE. See summer tour dates and read about their upcoming release HERE.

Kristal Blue Persuasion: The sad lawsuit between the widow and the daughter of the late owner of the seminal punk bar CBGB has been settled. (Arts Beat)

Amazing, if by Amazing You Mean Made Up: When I saw this "solved kidnapping story" on the cover of yesterday's tabloids, I was completely fascinated. But as I read details, the whole thing began to make very little sense. Apropo of nothing, an unemployed man from Michigan named John Barnes "had a feeling" he didn't fit in with his family, then came across a story of a kidnapped boy on Long Island 54 years and decided he must be that kid. Why the news media -- from around the world -- would completely get swept away by this invented-from-whole-cloth story is beyond me (his poor family, his dad suddenly a suspected kidnapper). But, sure enough, the FBI did a DNA test (it was, after all, an unsolved kidnapping) and OF COURSE this guy is NOT the missing boy. He's John Barnes from Michigan. (NYT)

Team Norville: I didn't even realize Katie Couric had any gay fans. (SoupCans)

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Why am I not surprised that Woody Allen's return to the Big Apple doesn't have whatever it takes to be funny? (NYT)

Judge Mary: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently declined to defend the validity of Proposition 8 in federal court, has appointed an openly gay man to serve as a state judge. (Advocate)

Better Handguns and Gardens: I wish I were kidding, but there really is a publication called Garden & Gun, "a Southern lifestyle magazine that's all about the magic of the new South -- sporting culture, food, music, art, literature, people, and ideas. (G&G)

Cheesecakes Bites and Couture: This story about designer duds for plus-size fashionistas has the best artwork ever. (NYT)